*Says Nigeria practising 'military democracy'
The General Overseer of Hilltop Believers Assembly Nigeria
Incorporated in Delta State, Apostle Alfred Tseye-Okotie, has
condemned the clampdown on and trial of Nigerian journalists by
politicians, federal and state governments across the country.
Speaking on Sunday with journalists on the increasing number of
clampdowns on and trials of journalists, shortly after the church's
international conference tagged, 'Upon Mount Zion, God Will Do A New
Thing', Tseye-Okotie said, "I have a lot of pity for journalists. The
work you're doing is dangerous. If you say the truth, somebody will
tell you next time you do this, you're in trouble.
"I learnt that somewhere in Akwa Ibom you say something about the
government, they frame up some charges against you and throw you
inside the prison.
"In a democratic government, everybody has a right. If you say what
contradicts what they feel, you're in trouble.
"We are not practising democracy. In a democratic terrain, everybody
has a voice and the right to speak. But in Nigeria, to be honest with
you, I think it is like a military-democracy. You speak out, you're
arrested. Nobody wants to talk.
"Even our civilians who are not even in the military before, they have
been bought over to feel that 'if you challenge me, I will deal with
you'."